With tax season well underway, most Canadians have realized the only way to get paper tax forms and complete them offline is to head to a local post office.
But the Canada Revenue Agency’s decision to stop mailing out tax forms has caused a ripple effect that’s leading many taxpayers to be caught up in minor, yet still frustrating, inconveniences.
David Kellsey recently discovered one of those inconsistencies.
He knew enough to head down to Canada Post to get his forms. But after getting home and throwing the forms on his Kitchener table, the Kitchener resident realized something was missing – there were no envelopes provided for him to send in his return.
“They have always been in the middle (of the package),” Kellsey tells CTV.
“You assume they’re going to be there’ – nope.”
Kellsey trudged back to the post office and asked for his envelope. The Canada Post employees were happy to provide it to him, but Kellsey says the envelopes were kept out of sight, meaning others likely missed them as well.
“They have them behind the counter, out of sight,” he says.
“Why do they have to make it more frustrating?”
Not every experience with tax envelopes is as difficult as Kellsey’s.
Different post offices store the envelopes in different places, and tax forms are also available at some convenience stores – where, in some cases, the envelopes are provided with the forms.
The front of the tax package does remind readers to ask for an envelope if needed, but Kellsey questions who would read the cover before leaving the post office.
CRA spokesperson Keith Brooks tells CTV envelopes are pre-addressed to the relevant tax centre this year, a change from previous years when they were left blank.
